Persona: Heart of Inspiration
by Babylon4Once
Summary: A young artist dicovers his true potential, with his new friends and SEES the journey to men's hearts will be rought with danger. OC heavy story. Other themes, Romance Suspense. *Need a beta reader,PM me so I can release more chapters*
1. Prologue: Child of Inspiration

***Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series belongs to Atlus, recomended viewing 3/4. This is a first fic so please forgive any typos or grammar mistakes***

Prologue: Child of Inspiration

"All flights for Iwatodai Japan Proceed to Gate 3" The pre-recorded airline announcement speaks out over the density of people from over 400 nations.

A teenage boy standing at Gate 3 receives a hug and a kiss from his Mother, she won't be going with him. The young man blushing with embarrassment of the affection around these people tries to withdraw any tears, A few manage to slip away from his eye and drip on his jacket.

"Yea Mom, I'll call you soon as I get off the plane." The two then wave to each other, and the Boy begins to have the feeling sink in that he's going on a plane to Japan for a year without his parents or anyone in his former life with him. He takes slow hesitant steps but puts on a facade of bravery, but beneath this mentally he's a child again. So he takes the seat by the window to get a view of the city as it shrinks into a single light of the horizon. No one sits next to him so he tries and rests his legs on the empty seats until the stewardess tells him not to. The flight becomes too long too quickly and after 2 hours the in-flight movie repeats. He can't sleep just yet so he pulls out his note book and flips through the pages he has already filled.

Sketches and doodles of surreal places, Castles, dungeons, towers, and monsters. The Creatures were the most detailed. One in particular he drew over and over again in different poses, styles, a few were even coloured. A dark red over its metallic body covered in black and grey cloth with pieces of green and gold stripes and signs in Japanese kanji.

He flipped to the last page a close up of his head now, the different variations had more human characteristics of the face, but this latest version he began sketching kept the upper half of the face much more robotic and alien. He gave it six red bright eyes three on each side of the human shaped head. They were then covered by a visor of its headwear which was something of the mix of a rice hat and a space helmet. While he was pleased with the drawing he still felt there was something missing.

So he stared at his notebook whacking his pencil on his page stuck on a thought. Tapping over and over he lost grip and flung the pencil into the air which struck the head of an unsuspecting passenger. This man stood up and the teenage artist sunk into his chair afraid.

"Is this yours?" he asked and the Teenager was going to deny it but his head nodded yes instinctively. He then offered the pencil not angry about his rude awakening but rather curious. He took the empty seat next to him.

The stranger turns his head to his notebook and his eyebrow raises inquisitively.

"Can I see?" He asked, and since his nature seemed rather kind and interesting he agreed handing it over.

He flips through the pages slowly looking at all the detail and creativity each page had and had a look of intrigue. He then turned to the last page the uncompleted head-shot and his face changed to a look of thought. "These are remarkable, It's a wonderful feeling seeing true inspiration and talent." He returned the notebook to it's owner.

_I never really thought about what I drew, I just kinda picked up the pen and did whatever was in my head._ He looks up to his mysterious appraiser again but he was gone. He was going to get up and look for him but the signal to put on the seatbelts for landing light up and had to remain seated. He opened up the notebook again to his last page and saw on the corner there was something new.

A Blue butterfly was left and underneath was a message left for him.

_"Everyone has the potential for greatness, and your's will be awakened soon"_

The words sank in deep, and he grabbed his pencil again inspired and filled in the blank space of the page with the kanji -_rai-_ and -_den_-

_Thunder & Lightning ?_ he thought. Yet the space was filled and he was satisfied with his piece finally with a push of inspiration. The mysterious message saved in his mind he pondered the phrase, _why did he say 'awaken'? Greatness is something earned not just inside dormant._

* * *

><p>Tatsumi Port Island Airlines.<p>

He was expecting a bigger welcome from the airport, but after picking up his luggage, but instead it was just a man, who he noticed to be very overdressed compared to all the other taxi drivers he knew in the city he grew up in. The sign with his name he held up shown a lack of any expression at all, like a robot on autopilot, but he could hardly criticize the stranger, being that he was rather alien to this country.

Slightly nervous about his manners he tried to shake the man's hand but was rejected, the culture shock was getting to him. Caught in some very heavy traffic the teenager tried to start a conversation every few minutes with the driver with no response but instead a glance through the rear view mirror. No doubt surprised of his Japanese, mistaking him as a tourist.

Finally the driver put the cab in park and said "The Bridge is off now, you can get there in five minutes if you take the subway."

And the young man thanked the driver and took some Dollar bills out of his pocket he hadn't exchanged yet, "Forget the change" and the driver bowed his head and drove away

He walks down the steps to the subway station, he might be catching the very last train of the night as it is getting close to midnight and there is barely a soul in sight of the long corridor. Taking a seat at the bench and shrugging off his bags to stretch his limbs. He brushes off dirt from his jean pants legs and straightens his leather jacket. He then grabs a comb and mirror from his duffel bag and begins fixing his unmanageable hair into a 'less' bushy style.

He looks at all the bags he brought with him and begins feeling homesick, that childlike feeling from when he stepped on that plane again pushed away from his mother brought out another tear.

Pulling out the certificate from his jacket pocket a scholarship program from Gekkoukan high, One year overseas to Japan for his second year in high school and they would pay all expenses to nearly any University on the globe. It was an offer that you just couldn't pass up.

_It can't be that bad here, just all the travelling, I haven't even seen the school_.

He slouches into his seat and leans his head back looking into the artificial light shining on him. His eyes begin to flutter as he almost falls asleep.

"Iwatodai, Iwatodai, now boarding for Iwatodai." the voice came from the intercom.

The young man gets up and suddenly blackout. Everything dark. He extends his hands to his face but cannot even see them. _ It's ... so dark... am I blind?_ And then there is light, and the train runs into the station and the very last car, the one right in front of him looks different, it is blue and looks like an old fashioned caboose. He can't help but move his feet to the door, and open.

A flash of light blinds him for a moment as he steps inside, it clears and he analyzes the room. This room was covered with the colour of blue velvet, from the curtains to the carpet. and he was not alone either. Two people sit at the table in front of him, one a woman who looks like an attendant and the other, a grotesque man with large bulging eyes, hunched over with a very long nose.

Looking back at the two who were expecting him the young man should have felt afraid but there was a calmness. An aura of safety filled within.

The odd looking one introduces himself "Welcome to the Velvet room, my name is Igor and this is my assistant Beatrice."

"Where are we?" the young man asks looking around the room, at first avoiding eye contact with the man and his big eyes, and long nose, noticing that the windows of the train were pitch black, like what it was moments ago.

"This is a place between mind and matter, a place for those who are bound by a contract and it seems that you are now being given one of these agreements right now" the man named Igor says.

Beatrice takes out the contract and places it in front of the young man; the young man takes the sheet of paper "What? A contract? What is this supposed to mean" questioning if this was the devil trying to buy his soul or something out of a urban legend.

"It is an agreement that you will take responsibility for your actions" The other named Beatrice answered.

Though hesitant the young man takes out the pencil he had in his jacket pocket and signs in his name.

"Alexander Wade" written on the dotted line, then as he set it down the page floated up to the long nosed man's hands and stowed it away.

"Excellent" Igor grinned "It's time for you to wake up now, you should be at your destination, but the path before you is still not at end, you may not see what is coming, just remember to keep resolute at the journey. Move forward without doubt. We will meet each other again".

The young man Alex did not feel comfortable hearing that, as a matter of fact he began to feel very heavy.

Iwatodai. Now exiting at Iwatodai.

He opened his eyes and heard the announcement and grabbed his things before the train left for its next destination, not sure if all of that had just happened.


	2. Chapter 1: School days

Chapter 1: School Days

He gave the door a good hard knock to be sure that someone would hear him, the door opens a crack and he sees a white haired male.

"Wade-san?" checking to see who he was, and then moved out of the way. Alex had then taken his things and set them aside at the check-in desk, he looked around the dorm lobby and noticed that there was a lot of missing furniture and the rest were covered in white sheets; it was easy to realize that the dorm building had been reopened recently.

The man who was in his thirties, snow white hair, and a goatee same colour then addressed the student "I hoped you arrived sooner, did they stop you for anything at the airport?" it seemed he was waiting all night for your arrival.

"N-no" rather sent back because of the question, "But I had forgot to exchange my money at the airport and wound up doing it at the station". Now looking at the floor.

"No need to apologize, if it was out of control, my name is Sanada Akihiko, I approved the scholarship on behalf of S.E.E.S, I'm also your principal"

"S.E.E.S? Oh, uh principal what brings you here at the dorm like this?" Alex found himself surprised of who this man was.

"Never mind that, but the reason I'm here in this dorm room is because I live here" Alex gulps.

"And the other students?" hoping to at least find someone else who could share the suffering of the expected martial law that would be imposed with Sanada's pressence.

"Only one other student, a girl in your grade will be living here as of yet, she's at home right now still gathering her things, you'll meet her in the morning" He takes off his coat, and Alex does this as well, " Well let me take you to your room then."

Alex follows Sanada-san to the second floor, "And here it is, last door on the right" he abruptly pauses having a moment with himself _his room, I hope their right about this kid._ "Sanada-sensei?"

"What? Oh, excuse me, seems I need some sleep as well, I'll see you at school tomorrow" he then leaves up the stairs to his own room.

Alex opens the door and looks around, a nice bed, almost big enough for two people, a empty desk where he could set up his laptop after he buys an adapter for the Japanese power, and a calendar "Today is the 11th. April 2022, "he sighed, "I'm beat talking to myself like this".

Immediately changing into his pyjamas he unpacked from his travel bad, which was rather light on clothes, meaning he would have to buy some another day. Alex finally could lie down and get some rest, and quickly delved into slumber.

* * *

><p>In Alex's dreams it was dark, but not as in he had closed his eyes, or that it was because of the night, he could feel it around like before. He was terrified of this nightmare<p>

"_You shouldn't be here"_ came from a disembodied voice.

"_Leave this place, you ... have to go"_ from the voice again. Then a malevolent aura came from the darkness. _It wreaks of death... I can't breathe... _

Alex was already lost he didn't know how he got here, if he was even here, he kept repeating in his head, wake up, wake up.

"_There's no light in this place, no hope" _a final warning from the voice in the dark.

Alex began to panic, there was nothing all around him, all his worst fears began to take over, and dark images of the evil aura filled his mind. And then there was a door, a blue glowing light in the empty place around him, he ran to the door and rushed inside. He was now in a place he remembered the Velvet room.

"Ah your back." Igor chuckles to himself. "There are no coincidences in life, everything is there for a reason, what may seem vague or unnoticeable may be the precursors to fate, for some this realisation comes too late, as for your fate, let us see." He takes a deck of cards and sets three face down.

"First your past," he flips the first card over, "ah Death, from what I can see you reached a time where you had to face an abrupt change, perhaps in yourself that you could not escape, and thus could not go back to it" the description was more than true for what happened to Alex in his life, he wasn't the same as he was as a kid and he couldn't go back to the way things they were, but what exactly? He just couldn't put the two together.

"Now the present" he flips a second card "The Fool, of course, as in the Fools journey, it seems you will be set on to a journey, one where the circumstances are unknown, intriguing this destiny is." His smile disturbs Alex further, _now this journey? Or this contract business, nothing was clear_.

"Now for the future." The final card is turned over " The Hanged man, if we look at what the journey may hold this card may either lead to letting go, and simply following the path that takes you, or..." he pauses for the next reading

"A self sacrifice for the greater good, hmm? My look at the time its best you wake up now, but this won't be the last time you see us, the time of our next meeting will be of your choosing." The silent attendant Beatrice hands Alex a key again made of blue velvet. The Velvet room began to fade into white and slowly be muffled by the sound of knocking on his door.

*April 12th*

"Hey open up, you've already missed breakfast" it was a female voice, about maybe the same age as Alex's.

Groggy eyes looked up on the flashing red numbers of his alarm clock unset because he was too god damn tired and didn't give a crap at the time. He got up a little too fast and stumbled dizzy

"_I'll be right out_" he said, in English not thinking. It became blatantly obvious that he was not a morning person. Alex hastily put on his new uniform for school a pair of black dress pants with a white undershirt and long bowtie, and a jacket, also black, the jacket had a button on it of 4 checkers black and white, _the school logo or something I guess_.

Stepping out of his room he was caught in surprise that the female student stayed in front of the door the whole time waiting there, instead of somewhere, well ... less private. After getting a good look at her new dorm mate she burst out laughing "Baka you left your shirt inside out" she giggles.

Alex caught in a whole new level of embarrassment with this very attractive girl retracted himself to his room fixing his mistake, and his hair for the matter a scientifically unexplained king of bed head that never would seem to die, regardless of what kind of product or hairspray or urban home cure could solve. But he wasn't one who cared much of what people thought of his looks anyhow. There was one thing he remembered his old principal say too him before the trip to Japan "Remember when your there you're representing your country, so mind yourself and don't cause trouble". _What a douche _Alex thought of the man_, _and remembered how he would just linger a little bit longer near the gym when the girls were using it for gymnastics_. It's not like I'm the new ambassador of Canada all of a sudden._

So the atomic bed-head decided to walk back out there and play it cool this time like it never happened and play out the mysterious stranger attitude, he had lots of practice doing nearly every school he had gone to in the past 6 years. "Well we ready to go" he said smoothly. And the two left the old dorm room and headed to the monorail station.

* * *

><p>At the train the car was jammed packed with business men on the way to work and students being dropped off of their respected schools and in about 3 stops Alex would be seeing his for the first time.<p>

"By the way I we never introduced each other, I'm Oohashi Maiko."

Alex would have bowed his head or something to that respect if he weren't pressed between 3 strangers while hanging on a pole. "I'm Alex" he brushes his hair away from his face, in a charming way and smiles. "Alex Wade" _shaken not stirred, you have done well my son. _His ego swelled.

Maiko paid no attention to Alex's charms, (imaginary glass heart breaks) and instead look through the window and pointed out. "There it is!" acting excited on Alex's behalf "Gekkoukan High!" Alex looks himself and understands the excitement, the sheer size of the place was larger then what he would ever expected, taking up a huge chuck of the manmade island. Seeing the monumental size made his jaw drop and imagining in fantasy of a school with Asian girls just as pretty or more as Maiko put himself in a stupor. _Yep one super awesome school year. _

Later at Gekkoukan High.

Without a doubt this was one of the best schools Alex's ever been to, not simple the size of the school, he has been to another just as large, which was more like a overstuffed prison, but this place had something about it, talent would be the word. From the hallway long murals, or the showcases of awards from A to Z and one honour roll student's name seen a few times Alex seemed to notice.

"Arisato Minato second year class 2F 2010", Alex then looks further on the list and says to himself outloud. "Huh, didn't take another year"

Maiko now yelling through the crowd, of students in front of the bulletin board "Hey come on, Arekkusu-kun 1st bells soon we can get the grand tour later"

Alex blushed the at the way Maiko pronounced his English name, _So cute..._ His name was shared by his father and grandfather actually making him Alexander the 3rd and also lead to confusion during the holidays when all three of the men were together. "Well where's your homeroom?"

"2F same as you" she replied, with a slight smile. _Just like that ace student huh? Whatever._ "So let's just take a quick look around so you can get your bearings okay?" Alex nodded.

Near the doors to the music room the two walked side by side, asking each other questions about each other, simple stuff, hobbies, where they're from, etc. Maiko's last one was "So is it really just gonna be us two at the dorm?"

"Well the principal Sanada-sensei is apparently living with us, jeez sucks don't it? Well anyway I guess there will be more roomies whenever he hands out more of those golden tickets.

"

Meanwhile their chat a student with long (that is long for a male) straightened black hair with the parted Emo bang over the eye and spiked out on the back of his head., his Gekkoukan uniform, and underneath a purple shirt that looked like it had an ink blot test on it as well as leather wristbands with studs following the Emo style.

The Emo looking teen was talking to another student a girl but she had a tomboyish cut hair and if not for her skirt she wore with the boys student top she would pass off almost as a bishonen male.

"Yea sucks that we had to let go of Chosokabe" The male teen said.

"Date hasn't been to practice again?"

"Course not dude, and if Date doesn't show then Takeda skips with him to go to that Maid cafe" He sighs, then looks over and sees Maiko and the transfer student.

Maiko waves to the two "Hey Mori-kun, Uesugi-kun, more drama with the band?"_. _

"M-m-Maiko-san!" face gone from blue to red blush just from a simple question about his day, and kept catching himself starring too long at her face. "Yea, umm... Chosokabe transferred and ... uh." he gulps unable to make decent conversation so looked at the ground his face red with affection, his mind repeating the same thought _subject, subject, change the subject, crap crap crap!_

Stuttering every other word. "I s-see you b-brought the transfer s-student" and laughs it off weakly, then calms done and regains some composure.

"Yea this is Arekkusu-kun"

"Ahem, Alex please."

The girl who Maiko referred to as Uesugi with the male honorific also said hello. "Talk Later after school?" Mori nods.

Mori turns his attention to the transfer student. "Well then nice to meet ya Alex-kun, the name's Mori Nobuyuki i, just stick with Mori, for the both of us." laughing, and then picking his binders and such off the floor.

"Anyway I'm off to homeroom 2F kay?" Mori said before walking out.

"Hey wait up that's our homeroom too, let's go together" Maiko cheerful as ever, "After all more the merrier."

After Mori heard his dream girl was going to be in the same homeroom all the gears in his brain stopped, and the thought was nearly ecstasy. Alex in a sense of pity dragged along his new acquaintance to homeroom before his head nearly lost oxygen from the stupor.

At the classroom Alex went to the desk in the middle of the classroom, even though his gut sensed that would be the teacher hotspot for sudden death pop quizzes, but there was something about it alluring to it. Like a sixth sense he found out just what it was, on the edge of the old desk was a engraving on it, A.M. 09. _A. M 09, wait a minute... that kid on the front hall 2F, spooky. _

_Like a ghost story or something I'm gonna see this kid everywhere. _

Behind Alex was Mori, and across the row beside him was Maiko who was in a half awake drowse, which Alex knew was strange because of her carefree attitude in the morning, _maybe something's eating her that she's not telling us._

It was an uninteresting 1st day of classes no one was expected to do anything for actual school, even the teachers knew that their students would just catch up with each other or the new kids like Alex would be engaging with their new friends. Mori was like this too by around 3 minutes after introductions he would start poking Alex with his pencil "Hey dude, hey, say something in English, pleeease~ come on" Mori was a little annoying but a pretty alright and friendly guy, even despite his Emo, or Grudge, or Goth whatever appearance

Alex caved in after his incessant poking began to leave a semi-painful mark "_Sometimes when I'm alone I pretend to be a potato" _perfect English nonsense to throw off his friend's English grade no doubt.

"Wow, I have no idea what you're saying"

But more importantly during first and part of second period was the introduction ceremony, which wasn't terrible, again another excuse to leave class ignore the teachers and just talk to your friends but, Alex paid a bit more thorough attention to Sanada-sensei the principal he met last night, he never went on the podium to give a speech the VP Mr. Ekoda spoke for him. Akihiko did not exactly make himself very popular with the teachers because his age rather young for a principal, and how his job was given to him because his ties with the Kirijo group, or more precisely Mitsuru Kirijo.

* * *

><p>Flashback 2021.<p>

Akihiko fidgeting in his chair very impatiently, Mitsuru doesn't just leave someone waiting like this for a good reason, if it was something less he would have just received a phone call or a message, but a meeting in her study at the Estate like this meant serious business.

Finally with a briefcase in hand she walked in and sat to the desk in front of Akihiko. Taking a look at Akihiko and turning her serious look into a faint smile if only for the moment "I see you haven't shaved"

Akihiko stroking his chin with the light stubble grinning "I've been trying to grow it out, see how it looks" Akihiko then cleared his throat and continued "I think I can assume why you invited me here today"

Mitsuru nods, "Yes I'm sure you know what these are" see opens the briefcase, the contents as he expected their old Evokers, and S.E.E.S armbands. See then closes the briefcase after the quick look and sets it down on the floor "But the real proposal I brought you here, involving S.E.E.S is that I want you to run S.E.E.S as the principal of Gekkoukan High school"

Akihiko nearly choked "Principal? I'd rather go out with the shadows"

"But you can't, we both know now that we can barely use out Personas"

"I can still do it! There's gotta be some power left I can still use." Akihiko clenching his fist, unable to accept he doesn't have the power he tried so hard to master.

"Settle down Akihiko please, your experience on personas and shadows is more than enough to help train the new team we can assemble"

"Well isn't there someone else who can do this, why not you or Fuuka or Yukari, hell did you even ask Junpei?"

Mitsuru sighing because of Akihiko's rather resistant behaviour, Akihiko under any other day would not take a chance to go out to the field and fight shadows, "The Principal position is mostly for directing the new squad, plus I don't see how you don't find yourself responsible enough for this."

Mitsuru was trying to taunt Akihiko, "Well how are we going to start this team without persona users?" Akihiko sceptical of what Mitsuru was trying to tell him.

"Actually I've been working on some studies behind Persona potential on looking for other events in the media over the past few years on possible Shadow activity; it may not even be a birth trait after all."

"But more importantly with this new information I've created a test that may very well show the signs of potential. This is why we would need a school for a base of operations"

"Another Kirijo cover up" Akihiko smirks, this meeting really was fouling his mood.

"But I've only come to the conclusion that the potential this test is able to find is the rare kind" Mitsuru takes out the folder marked "Minato Arisato investigation"

"All these details on Arisato ... Then you figured out his power?"

"Just the possible signs of that potential, Perfection. The potential of the Persona identical to their abilities and personality , by running the test I created with the information gathered on Arisato it shows career wise he would excel at anything from A to Z"

"He really was special, but still if you could find a person with power like him then what about everyone else?"

"I'm afraid at the time being you'll be short, in the meantime we will try this with any result across the country and out west if we can find anyone, however when gathering information on Arisato and seeing if anyone he was affiliated with had potential and I came across one girl"

Mitsuru grabs the phone in her study and dials for her secretary, "Yes can you have Nobutada bring in the girl please? Thank you"

* * *

><p>"And a good year, thank you all, you may now return to your regularly scheduled classes"<p>

After the hour long opening ceremony Vice Principal Ekoda stepped down from the podium and all the students were able to get out of their seats and get back to talking to their friends without being scolded by a teacher for talking during the repetitive and rather cheesy speech on _**blah blah blah**_.

Mori who was beside Alex took his earphones he was able to hide in his long dyed black hair, for what other purpose, stretching widely after in a music trance during the speech.

"Ahhh, whelp that what a long one, yeesh just kill me now."Mori puts a finger gun to his head and pulls the imaginary trigger, then laughs cheerfully.

"So new kid, Al-kun you every play bass" Mori making his hands into an air guitar pose.

"I've dabbled" Alex answering modestly.

Mori chuckles lightly "Your alright new kid, maybe you can show the band what ya got, since our bass player transferred schools, we get to use the music room after school **every day but Friday and Saturday**."

Alex considered the idea and put it in his mental "To-do list". Then there was just Alex and Maiko.

"So Alex, how did you get so good at Japanese?" Maiko; who had been remaining silent since class started, tried to spark conversation even though her troubled thoughts were becoming much clearer on the keen eyed exchange student.

"My Mother taught me, well step-mom, she's Japanese. She met my Dad while he was on the return flight from a business trip or something I don't know" Meanwhile Akihiko walked toward the two who had seemed to stay behind all the other students that returned to class.

"Ah, good your still here, would the both of you please come to my office?"

Alex had a mixed reaction of this, brushing it off as a simple formality about his transfer, or the dorm room because he invited Maiko, yet something didn't seem quite alright. Alex then threw away that gut feeling and decided to follow his principal regardless.

The three had entered the principal's office, Akihiko took sat on his fine leather chair cross-legged and gave a nod to the two students to sit down. Maiko took the chair to the left facing the door, while Alex took the right chair by the window.

"Wade, Oohashi I'm sure you two have questions according to your stay in the old dormitory then? Well I can answer a few on your mind because we have some spare time for second period then." Akihiko readjusts his legs crossing the other way now.

"First of all you won't be the only ones living in the premises there will be 'other students' recruited into the scholarship program during the school year, from this school, maybe more transfers, it depends if I get the call."

Alex acting rather nervous raised his hand "Yes Wade-san?"

"Well I think I asked before but what is S.N.E.S or something?"

"S.E.E.S, or the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, and what it is will..." he and pauses and strokes his goatee "be explained in time"

_How could that not be suspicious, that pause, that goatee, Maiko doesn't seem stunned at all about this, she's buying it all up crap!_

"Anyhow I brought you here to sign these" he puts down his legs to the floor and slides a piece of paper in front of them. _More contracts? No man that was a dream idiot, but back to reality there's no way I'm signing it without reading it!_

Alex takes the sheet of paper and holds it to his face, reading intensely to see what his principal's big idea was.

"That is just a simple code of conduct form about the rules for dorm use, they're very lenient if your troubled" Akihiko could see the real reason why he didn't trust the deal, more so how he intended it at first in fact

"I'll go first" Maiko volunteered to sign the waver, _Just like that? Maiko ... Jesus. No, I think I'd better do it too._

Akihiko thought to himself _It's not fair tricking him like this but she knows well that we can't explain it without him seeing it, he'll be just like him I can tell in his eyes _

"Thank you for your co-operation, you two can return to class" the students exit and Akihiko sat alone thinking on the next step.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes. <strong>

**What Mori said in Bold text about his schedule is my substitute for the classsic Blue text in the games.**

**Also all the members of Mori's band go by their last names which I named them all after Japanese Feudal lords, Mori, Takeda, Uesugi, Date, and Chosokabe.**

**JRaiga: this chapter should answer some of the questions you've asked setting up more of the time frame acting like a sequel to P3 instead of say a Au retelling or something on the those lines. Minato will have an important role in Alex's journey as a social link and kind of spirit guide for some of the social links and plot elements to come. Elizabeth and Theodore nothing can be said about them in the future but keep your eyes open. **


	3. Chapter 2: Disappearing Act

Chapter 2: Disappearing Act

***Warning* Spoilers for the events of Persona 4. (Even though this is a sequel fic I just wanted you to know)**

The first day of school had ended and Alex had still felt unnerved on his principal's mysterious actions. While looking for his locker number in one of the hallways at his school he overheard a few girls gossiping.

"Did you hear about locker 103?"

"Huh? No why?"

"They say that locker is haunted by the ghost of a kid who died here"

The other girl yelped "A Ghost? H-here?"

"Get a hold of yourself, yeesh, but yea there was this one girl who was at the school at night or something and when she went past that locker she heard voices coming out of it"

"What kind of story is that? Why would she be there at night? That's not even scary"

Alex then looked at the small slip of paper with his locker number at it after hearing this, 104. Next to the ghost locker. _And did they say a kid who died?_

* * *

><p>Flashback 2021 Gekkoukan at night.<p>

Akihiko and Mitsuru walk down the dark hallways of the high school at night. Mitsuru stops in her tracks and faces Akihiko.

"There," she points at the locker 103. "Do you know who that belonged to?"

Akihiko nods "You're referring to _him_ of course"

"Yes and there is something I'd like to show you" she takes out a single key and opens the thick lock on the door of the locker, she opens it slowly making sure Akihiko is catching a glimpse of what is inside.

"What is that?" Akihiko shocked and awed. Inside the locker is a rift where the wall should be of red and black stripes.

"This is some kind of entry way into the world of shadows, I think it's here as some kind of power from Tartarus, and chose this place because of _his_ power"

"So what was Tartarus then? Is it still here?"

"Tartarus was perhaps a piece of the shadow world that was placed into this reality after the explosion over 20 years ago. Shadows unfortunately will always exist, and what we've been finding in some of the latest unsolved murders in the city may be shadow related."

"So what's keeping the shadows away from reality then?"

"Well think of the coffins, we are protected from a barrier so to say, and say that barrier weakens or opens if the person's will to live breaks, then the shadows are free to prey on their host"

"Their host? Sounds like the two, humans and shadows are connected"

Mitsuru nodding, "Quite right think of it like actual shadows, everyone has one, and for every person in reality there is a shadow trying to break free in that world"

"Ok then, and back to this gateway then?"

"Yes well from certain studies either there are certain different levels or realities of the shadow world there are also various ways inside, a unconscious dream state, or manufactured ones like the dark hour, then there are places that have this _energy_ that have a weaker boundary of the 2 worlds."

"One more thing Akihiko, it seems this one only works at midnight"

_Midnight._ Akihiko thought. _Who could have guessed._

* * *

><p>Present day. Dormitory.<p>

Back at the dorm Alex was the only one there, principal Akihiko would have had to still be at school, and Maiko must have gone out with her girlfriends. Heading back to his room he decided to watch some Japanese T.V.

*click* "With the power of friendship and love I am Phoenix ranger Hero-man V!"

*click* "Tonight on Who's who, we're here with local boy Ken Amada who I've heard is just returning from Harvard University."

*click* "A review on the latest Tatsumi Port Island murder, 18 year old Yusei Fukushima was found dead just outside a local hospital." The announcement intrigued ALex so he kept it going. "No cause of death was stated, however the body was found with coins placed on the eyes as following numerous other killings of students from ages 16-24. The police deny the cause as a homicide. As we spoke to the boy's parents they said that their son was feeling signs of depression after having been expelled from private school. With this knowledge some say that the death was possibly a suicide attempt by overexposure."

The news made Alex feel disturbed, then his mind turned back to Akihiko and Maiko, his mind spiraling out of control he felt the need to distract himself so he shut the television off and put on his coat. Perhaps some time at Paulownia mall would help him relax.

Later.

Alex circled around the malls central fountain when he caught a glimpse of someone familiar, it was Akihiko Sanada. Unnerved about the man since his last encounter .He trailed him hiding in the crowds of people, keeping pace with him, looking at the stores he would go into until he saw Akihiko enter the Club Escapade. He then tried to go in after him only to then see the open hours sheet in front of the door, naturally its open during evenings, if he went in there he would be spotted immediately. Still finding his Sensei here became certain that something mysterious was afoot here.

He decided that it would be best to come back at night and check around see if the owner would have talked to him, maybe get him to spill something. So after returning to the dorm, constantly wrapping his head around what exactly all of these strange things meant, more than his Sensei but those weird dreams, occurring darkness, and that Minato kid who kept showing up one way or another.

Then someone entered, it was Akihiko. He gave Alex a short look and walked upstairs not saying anything.

* * *

><p>Flashback Club Escapade hours ago<p>

At Club Escapade, Akihiko opened the door like he belonged there. A bartender turns his head toward him after hearing the door. The bartender seeing who walked in uninvited returned to rubbing his counter trying to ignore Akihiko. He steps up to the barstool and sits down, waiting for a reaction by the man but being denied.

Akihiko clears his throat after being given the cold shoulder. " I thought you would listen if I came here you would ..."

"I thought I made it perfectly clear, no. It's over just stop." The ball-capped bartender interrupting him with hostility, then looked away again, keeping away from his eyes.

"Junpei..." Akihiko sighed out sombrely. "What happened to us? Have we really lost touch?"

Junpei rolled his eyes at him. "Like we were friends then? Tch, was just because I had powers, that's it. And after the fighting it was just me! I actually got over it, not like Yukari who might be in a mental house or committed suicide! Or you and Mitsuru, who just can let it go, can't accept that you don't have powers anymore!" Junpei panting, catching breath after his rant, and Akihiko biting his lip.

"It's not just some stupid attempt to fight shadows, there's more to it. People are dying, and you know what happens when these creatures are just left to do what they want. And for the record Junpei that story is a lot different than getting expelled, or finding you years later having to take you to the police station." Akihiko raised his voice back, then gets up from the bar stool with his back to Junpei now, clearly his stance would not change.

Akihiko then turned his head back to Junpei after standing in front of the door "You're the one hiding, trying to forget about the past."

* * *

><p>At Escapade, present time.<p>

Alex slipped through the door attempting to blend in the crowd and music, but felt awkward for the older drinking crowd and he was still wearing his Gekkoukan uniform. Alex thought one of the bartenders or employees would have had to have seen him coming in, so he went to the front counter. Junpei was at the counter servicing drinks when he spotted the high-school student

"Hey Kid, you're not here for a couple of drinks eh?" Alex gulped, nervous sweat drops on his forehead. Junpei laughs out loud

"I'm just kidding" He chuckles to himself " No alcohol has been served since a bill on drunk driving, didn't you notice there were no bouncers kid?" Alex dumbstruck, his mind left long ago, he didn't know whether to laugh it off or apologize, so he just blanked out for a moment.

"You wanted to say something kid?" Junpei snapping him back to reality.

"Oh, yea, that uh, um ..." coughs in his hand, "Was there a guy thirties, goatee white hair who came here in the afternoon, did you see him?"

Junpei took a bit to think. _Akihiko? Should I be honest? Come on brain! _"Yes I was here, why you need to know? I dunno where he's heading."

Alex immediately shot out his next question "Why was he here? You know him?"

Junpei knew he couldn't answer that " Uh I don't remember" Alex had the feeling that wasn't the whole story.

"Well it seemed he would have to have been invited if he were to be in there when it's closed like that in the afternoon." His interrogation actually changed powers as Junpei was now on the spot by Alex.

"Alright, damn kid you sure play detective, I did see him in the afternoon, and we had a chat, a short one. It was a personal talk between old friends, now if that's what you needed to here there it is." Alex bowed his head and was about to walk away until a realization struck Junpei. Akihiko and Mitsuru kept talking about starting a new team, and Alex having been in contact with Akihiko could have very well meant that he had powers too, so he called him over as he was about to walk away.

"Hey kid! What's your name?" Alex looked back to Junpei "Alex Wade."

"I'm Junpei Iori. How would you like to make some money?"

"A Job?" Wade seemed interested seeing as how he wouldn't have his parents looking after him he could really use spare cash for food, games, etc.

"Yea come by on **the weekend for an ****interview**, I'm about to fire that idiot who won't show up or do anything, drop by again sometime see how ya do." Alex thanked Junpei for the offer and headed for the dormitory.

On the way back from the mall Alex remembered something, he took out his phone dialled the number to his step-mother.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mom."

"You didn't call me right when you landed like you said." Alex again was conflicted between making up a lie like his phone wasn't charged but that seemed predictable and just stuck to honesty.

"I'm sorry I just was just jet lagged and forgot, please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad I was just worried. Did you find out where you're staying?"

Alex made his way walking down the street while talking and stopped at a red light. He was standing there beside a dozen other people who just huddled together it made it uncomfortable to talk on the phone like this.

"Yea they got me into some old Dormitory with one other girl and the Principal."

"Oh? What's he like?"

"He's... Interesting" The light had turned green and one girl with long rose pink hair walked forward to cross but Alex noticed a car that wasn't stopping at the light he quickly reacted and pulled her back to the sidewalk.

The girl looking stunned how she just came that close to death froze for a second, then noticed Alex still was holding her hand. She pulled away from his grasp and smacked him across the face. Alex recovering had a look that said '_what the hell?' _Then went heard the feint voice of his step mom on his phone.

"I'll call you tomorrow, Love you, bye." and hung up.

~Later at the dorm.~

Alex was dragging his feet tired, it was midnight and he really should have thought about the time it would have taken to get from the mall and back here. He stopped by Maiko's room which had the door open and she wasn't there. He saw that there were a number of boxes of clothes and things opened but not unpacked in her room yet, and there may be more things she wanted from her parent's. So he carried on to his bedroom for tonight.

After undressing from his school clothes, and brushing his teeth Alex had a late shower he walked to his bed noticing there was something laying there. He picked it up and it was a key, with a velvet blue colour, and a blank card. Alex didn't know what to make of it. _What's the key supposed to be for? And a card?_ He then remembered those dreams of The Velvet room, so clearly they didn't seem like any dream he had in his life, and now this key...

Alex shook his head in disbelief, he was tired and his mind was no doubt getting into weird places like why Maiko was gone, _what as if she got kidnapped or something_. He looked to the window to see the city, and saw a blue butterfly and Alex just stared at it, then realized something and went through his bags to pull out his notebook. The last page with the blue butterfly was missing.

*April 13th*

Alex had got up, ate breakfast and headed for school. On the way there he was greeted by Mori who he met yesterday. "Yo, Maiko not here?" Alex forgot about her,

"She was at her parents I think, maybe they dropped her off?" So the two went to class to find her. But she wasn't there, the two looked at each other. They both tried to assume that maybe she had been feeling sick and didn't return to their dorm, but they kept thinking the entire day where Maiko could really be.

After school the two met up outside the building, Mori approached Alex first. "Hey I've got Maiko's homework here if shes at home I got an excuse to see her. Weird though that she'd miss the second day of school, last year she had perfect attendance haha. Wanna come?"

Alex felt what was going on was serious,while there was no reason to worry a premonition crept inside him that something terrible has or was going to happen,and it would be alright to check. "Yea, you walked home with her before?" Mori scratches the back of his neck, his brain shuts down.

"Uh, no I follo… I mean seen here walk this way a few… times I guess" Alex snickers lightly and slaps his friend on the back

"You got a real crush on her man, you really got to make it less obvious some times".

Mori jerks his head up at the comment "You don't think she knows? Right? Right?" Alex laughs restrained again

"Yea but I think she doesn't mind."

The two friends take a train to the boulevard where Maiko's Mother lives, inside the train Mori didn't stop checking his phone texting a bazillion texts to her number and checking for responses. They arrive at the door and Mori who's general shyness lead him a good ten paces away from the door, it was Alex who decided to knock. Her mother answered the door.

Alex went straight to asking her "I'm a friend from Maiko's class, she didn't come to school today is she home?" The woman looked puzzled

"Well I'm afraid we haven't seen her in a couple of days now, you said she missed school?"

"Yes ma'am, well if you haven't seen her I guess we'll be on our way" Alex turned from the door and it shut, Mori stepped up into view and had a frantic look on his face.

"Oh shit dude this is bad, real bad! bad! bad !bad! BAD man!"

"Shut up and think for a second here! Think about what we know right now, and take a goddamn deep breath!" Mori took a few deep breaths and then sat down against a wall.

"Ok then what DO we know?" Mori nearly having a heart attack.

"Well Maiko wasn't at school or her parents, obviously the last place I can think her going would be the dorm presuming she never left for school in the first place."

"Ok then we can just stop by to the dorm and find her, what then if she's not there?" His eyes are blinking rapidly, nose sniffing constantly.

"I... I don't know." Mori nearly jumps "We'd have to do what we can and search her room." Mori stood up and then began to speed walk ahead of Alex.

Alex began to bolt toward him. He tried to get a look at his face and it was red with tears. He didn't know how to calm him down he was feeling on the inside the same as Mori right there. _Poor kid, the hell is wrong with me I should have just calmed him down instead of not answering! But all this weird stuff going on can't stop thinking... just hope we find her._

A long walk back to the dorm had calmed Mori some, his eyes still reddened but he could tell as soon as things would be straightened out everything would be alright, right?

As soon as Mori entered the door he ran to the staircase and shouted "Maiko! Are you home?"

"Hey! Don't yell, we're not supposed to other people here! The HM might flip." But Mori didn't listen, he ran up the stairs and then started circling having no clue where to actually go. Alex then caught up to him and pointed the direction "It's that one". Mori barged into the room, hell he would have kicked the door if it wasn't already open, and that was a bad sign.

"She's gone!" Mori shouted. And when Alex made it in he began to notice things he didn't last night, although the room looked exactly the same mess it was before it now seemed more off. He scanned the room with his eyes while Mori paced around franticly something began to catch his eye that seemed unnerving. The television hummed lightly like it was on without a channel yet when he saw the wire it wasn't even plugged in, he then took this to Mori to try and get help coming to the bottom of this thing. They pulled it out slightly to see if it was plugged in something else or had batteries but there was nothing. The then looked at the black screen and felt spooked.

"What the hell is going on?" Alex thought aloud. Then as Mori put his face closer to the television to make sure the humming he was hearing was the TV at all the screen lit up with the picture of a stage. This made Mori jump back. The two were in such awe at what they were seeing that they began double taking the TV screen and the unplugged wire. Then the darkened stage was lit up by a spotlight where a smoke cloud then popped in a magician in a flashy entrance. The Magician turned to the "camera" and revealed to be wearing a mask.

"Welcome, Welcome to those who tuned just in I am tonight's entertainment, and also waiting to be entertained, for my first trick I'm going to pull a rabbit out of my hat. Yes this is no mere smoke and mirrors but true magic of course!" There the Magician took his hat and tapped the inner rim three times. "Now I shall say the magic words, Hocus! Pocus!" he the pulls from his hat the head of Maiko unconscious with bunny ears on her head. The crowd applauds and cheers.

Mori clenches his fist " That son of a bitch!"

The magician then puts back on his hat. "Yes now I would like you all to meet our lovely assistant Maiko!" and in a puff of smoke she appeared strung up on a board her wrists in irons. The two men seethed in rage. "And for anyone who would think of rescuing this fine damsel you can't! Nope this broadcast is filmed live in our luxurious Shadow Realm, and besides why would she need rescuing we're all having a good time here folks right?" the crowd cheers him on. "Yes indeed kiddos, and if you're still feeling daring enough come on down! And my, my the clock sure is ticking, only two days left before it's last call for our little show, Tootles!" Then the program cuts. Mori was devastated, and Alex was just completely lost,

"We got to go and save here dude!" Mori pointing out the obvious. Alex on replies with an equally obvious

" Yea and how do we do that, did you hear what he said, Shadow realm? I mean a guy that out of his mind to say those things and on camera, with an audience, and it was like he was talking right to us on the TV, which isn't even plugged in!" The two headed downstairs looking around the whole dorm for any evidence of kidnapping it was like she just disappeared, like in a poor choice of words 'magic'.

Alex then turned on the computer on the front sign in desk of the dorm. Mori asked him " What are you doing?"

"I'm looking up the internet for any weird shit like this."

He worked back to some of the key words the Magician said during his broadcast. like shadow realm, just links to some anime and bands of that name nothing useful. Then looked up the latest unexplained murders, mostly it was speculation and conspiracy sites, all victims were from ages 16 to 24 and each one was said to be depressed. Alex had only known Maiko for a day and would have no thought if Maiko was ever depressed. Looking at other unexplained murders he came to a particular link. "_10 years since the Yasoinaba Murders and residents still do not feel safe in their own homes." _he scrolled down skimming through the article explaining the year long case a link came up with Tohru Adachi the convicted murderer of the 2 victims from that case at least ten years ago. The magician's face was covered and the TV in Maiko's room was too small to get a good glimpse at his physical features, but Adachi was still in jail for a consecutive life sentence, no good.

Then the front door opened up and both of the boys heads turned to Akihiko Sanada.

"I know everything" his first words, they actually raised the tension.

"We can save her, but I need you two to do what I say no matter how strange it all sounds, if I could have all this explained there would be no problem." Mori looked up to Alex to see his reaction, Alex knowing there would be no other choice Nodded in agreement. Akihiko cracked a grin,

"Very good, then lets get started"

**Author's Note. The plot thickens. Next chapter is the Awakening.**


	4. Chapter 3:The Things we choose to Forget

Chapter 3: The Things we choose to Forget.

Akihiko parks his car in the lot of Gekkoukan high school, him and the two boys Mori and Alex exit. Mori accidentally slams the door and received a dangerous look from Akihiko. The Emo teen then begs the obvious question. "Why back to Gekkou high?" Akihiko ignores his question. "Jeezus, it's like he's trying so hard to be shady".

Alex simply shrugs it off, his suspicion to Akihiko from before simmers down now that he's starting to let in on the strange abduction of Maiko, maybe even those weird dreams. Akihiko opens the door and the boys follow him. They follow him until he simply stops in the middle of the hall, they were waiting to take them somewhere but instead he just stares at the lockers. Alex however notices exactly what he's looking at Locker 103.

"It's almost midnight." He looks at his watch only 15 seconds to 12. Alex is concentrating on the locker but Mori on the other hand doesn't have a clue. Then the hand strikes 12, at first it nothing happened, then the two jumped at a sound coming out of the locker.

"_I will buuuurn My Dread"_ The sound of music pops out of the locker, nothing more than a kids mp3 player being left on. _Some ghost locker this is_.

But then a moment later it was as if time stopped if only a moment, and soon everyone's attention was to the locker with began to emit a red light from inside. Akihiko opens up the locker and reveals a red and black striped portal which would seem to go to another dimension!

"This is can't be real." Mori said with shock.

"There's no waking up here your looking right at it, The Shadow world." Akihiko brings up his briefcase and opens it facing it to the two.

Alex looks inside "Guns?" Inside the case were 2 pistols engraved the acronym S.E.E.S. "Hang on, S.E.E.S? Wait..."

"S.E.E.S is a group formed to fight shadows, lately a shadow cult has just resurfaced, whatever they want is gonna put a lot of human lives in danger." Akihiko then hands over one of the guns to Mori.

"Wait what's in there? Monsters?" Mori asked frightened of this Shadow world. Alex took one of the pistols, feeling the weight test pointing it then holsters it in his jacket pocket.

Alex looks to Mori, "We're going to get Maiko back, Anything you want to tell us Akihiko-san? Or are you going to just leave us in the dark all night here?"

"If there wasn't a sense of urgency here I would, and I hardly would find anything I could tell you about that place would be believable. As for other Intel I have these so I can keep track of you and keep you from getting lost." He hands Alex and Mori two earpieces with microphones. "I couldn't come up with any actually weaponry for this mission except these." He opens another double wide locker that was on the other side of 103, inside there was a duffle bag. Akihiko zips open the bag and pulls out a baseball bat and a kendo sword.

Mori grabs the baseball bat. "A bat and a pool wooden sword? Weak dude "He then takes his own pistol and puts it in his back pants pocket "Well at least we got the guns."

"That's enough chit chat, now to go in there and gut that pig" Alex said in control, Akihiko seeing something in Alex not too far from Minato.

"Yea!" Mori cheers inspired.

~The Realm of Tartarus~

"Woah" Was the only thing Mori could say to the place that portal could take him. The entrance was huge where from all sides including the ceiling, the entrance was a broken city, that may have been a mirror of Iwatodai except for the giant broken tower in the distance. The portal itself came from a coffin. "Uhh he's not in that tower? God I hope not that would take like a year to get to the top"

"No . Your target is a few blocks from where your standing, a left turn and your straight on your way."

Mori looking more at the tower" There must be like a million floors in that place, what is that, or all of this."

"What your looking at is Tartarus, let's just say a long time ago it nearly caused the end of the world."

"God, Like Oh-Em-Gee." Mori taken back by Akihiko's comment.

Alex began to walk ahead on his own, the streets were broken, the sky grim, and the moon was huge and glowing like a pale sun. He thought of that dark place many nights ago and felt the fear he has in here. Mori however had his mouth open the entire time, spinning around in circles to look at every inch of this shattered city, then turned his eyes to their destination.

Afterwards the two reached the entrance to a theatre with a bright neon sign and searchlights. "MAYONAKA STUDIOS"

Alex pointing to the sign "I've got a hunch he's in there.". The two began to tread up the stair case into the theatre.

The two boys walk forward in the dark room, forward they can make the outline of the set of that weird television broadcast. Then the room burst with light. Stage lights above illuminated the set what looked like a cheesy sitcom house. The two looked at Maiko strung up like a human marionette making motions trying to resemble cooking with the fake sitcom kitchen set. Then with a flashy entrance The Magician steps in taking off a jacket and tie. "Honey, I'm home!"

A sign hanging above the boys heads said applause and the cheered and roared. Alex turns to see who was watching this and from the bleachers were cardboard cut-out silhouettes of people.

Mori enraged, drew his baseball bat and began charging at the Magician "You sonofa!" and his swing was blocked and reflected by a force field, his base flung past Alex as he ducked under it.

"I think we'll need to take a quick commercial break paid for by our sponsors." He then disappears in a cloud of smoke with Maiko in hand. Before either of them could say anything the 'audience' began to boo and hiss angrily. The cardboard silhouettes shaking until they fell over turning into black sludge.

Mori rolls off of the floor looking at the terrifying monsters that appeared, He screams in fear, and Alex tries to run to his friends side to help him up and gripping his sword. Mori scrabbles to find his gun in his back pants pocket.

Meanwhile Alex is trying to communicate to Akihiko. "Akihiko! That Magician just summoned these monsters! Akihiko-san! Can you hear me?" Akihiko was nothing but messy static.

Mori finally pulls out his gun "Okay time to do some damage" he points the gun shakily at one of the creatures closes his eyes and pulls the trigger, *Click* *Click* *Click*, he keeps pulling in panic. "The guns they do nothing!"

Soon Alex saw true fear everything began to get quiet, then he saw flashes in his head from the Velvet room, Igor.

_Thou art I. _

Commands and information running through his brain a mile a minute.

_I am thou,_

He takes a look at the pistol, and feels as if he knows what he was doing _._

_From the sea of thy soul I cometh._

Mori is backing away from the shadows pointing his useless gun on them, and then looks to Alex. "Hey wait what are you doing! Stop!"

_The time has come to awaken._

_"_Per...so...na!"

Light flashes at the pull of the gun, Alex screams as shards of glass form around him and lightning and thunder forms into an entity, one he knows well. Red metallic skin, covered in grey cloth, adorned with stripes of gold and green. The Kanji 'Thunder' and 'Lightning'.

_"Thou art I, and I am thou, _

_from the sea of thy soul I cometh, _

_I am Raiden, Thunder god, Let the villains of this world fear the coming storm."_

Alex had awakened his new power and he knew just what to do.

A point to the temple with his pistol and "Zio!" came a bolt of electricity from Raiden to the unsuspecting monster. "Cleave!" and Raiden's blade sliced destroying the creature into nothing. "Tarukaja!" and he summoned strength to finish the rest off. Mori only stood there amazed at what his friend could do, and as if he had been doing it his whole life!

"Jeezus man! What was that thing? Did you say Persona?" Mori picking up his jaw.

"Uh I ... yea, guess I did" Behaving as if he had no idea what he just did.

Then came in a fuzzy transmission from Akihiko "Hello? This is _-iko, I've _ a _ channel, _Copy?"

"Your starting to come in, over" Alex tuning his earpiece device

"There, I seemed to have been getting interference from police radio, these things aren't exactly made for this. I heard you were in danger before we cut off are you all right?"

"Yea, and you coulda told us what the guns do!" Mori retorted.

"Maybe your starting to get how my explanations wouldn't improve the situation, like here take these and fire them to your head, but you took care of it?"

"Yea Al just ... I don't know what he shot that thing ... out of his head?"

"It's called Persona, its the only thing that can defeat the shadows, those things that attacked, that gun the Evoker, is a summoning tool that simulates the feeling of a shot to the head, a feeling of both fear and calmness."

"Can I have one? That thing was badass!" Mori in his boyish enthusiastic voice

"I don't think your cut out for this sort of thing Mori, Awakening to your Persona requires master over your ego, I don't think your cut out for this." Mori groans.

"It's time found our way to the next level." Alex began to take more control of this situation, he had to after all only he seemed to be able to fight the "Shadows"

"Yea, I'll uh stay behind you, let you take care of those shadows." Mori says with a hint of humility.

The second level was darkened a voice came out from the room. "An now for a very special episode of the Midnight channel. Brought to you by Calorie Magic!"

"Good god do you ever shut up!" Shouting at the lunatic Magician "What the hell do you want with Maiko!"

A second voice answered Mori, a eerily familiar voice. "Life is pain, I'm all alone. No one understands."

"Who are you? What's going on here?" Mori was getting confused, and angry with this "show" the Magician put on.

"No friends, no one cares. Why am I here? I just want to stop this feeling... this life."

A dim light comes from the shadows. peaking through a person steps forward, another Mori!

"What?" Was the perfect question Mori and Alex had in mind, there was Mori and on the stage also Mori, but with glowing yellow eyes. The other Mori's face looked burdened, and depressed, much like how his Emo clothing should have matched.

"Who are you?"

"Nobody, just forget it, your good at that, aren't you? No. I can't, how can you?" The otherMori's accusations began to put the real Mori on edge.

"Just go out there and put a smile and wave and make everyone think that we're ok, It's a lie! I'm sick of hiding your shit!"

"What do you know about me? Nice trick buddy this isn't funny!"

The Other Mori now growing more angry and violent with his ranting. "You can't hide what you did, I'll show you what I have to burden while you live!" And in the darkness spotlighted a bathtub, and inside the tub was a third lifeless Mori. Then discovered the Tub and all around was covered in blood. Mori immediately broke down collapsed on his knees, covering his ears balling his eyes.

Mori rocking back and forth just keeps chanting to himself "Shut Up! Shut Up! Shut Up!" He just wanted to wake up about now.

"You can't wish it away! I've had to live with all the guilt and torment while you could actually live!"

"SHUT UP! You're not me!"

And after just saying those words the Shadow Mori began to morph and grow until it took up the whole room, Alex prepared his evoker and sword in a battle stance. Akihiko finally says something after being silent on the headset radio

"That Shadow's getting enraged! I can help with some information here on it's weaknesses, be careful it has attacks that can hit your weaknesses too, stay on the defensive!"

The Shadow took form of an Organ player with an Organ which pipes shot out 20 feet in the air. The Shadow looked like the phantom of the opera in a sad/happy mask. Its goofy elongated limbs tried to play the pipe organ in a thrilling battle tune.

_(That sounds like a cue to play some sweet battle music www youtube com / watch?v=dWE0nlhpdq8 Don't forget to cut the spaces)_

"I am a Shadow, the true self! This is why I wished I just died that day!"

Alex made the first move, one shot to his temple "Persona!" And he summoned Raiden who launched a Zio attack towards Shadow Mori. The shadow screamed and it fell backwards off it's organ bench dazed.

"Good job! You hit it's weakness, another attack can do even more damage before it recovers!"

So Alex charged at the shadow, flat on its back. Although the Shadow was maybe three times his size when laying there he still jumped an incredible 7 feet in the air and whacked it in it's stomach with the wooden blade. It groaned and then flipped itself back up and used it's long thin arms to grab Alex and begin squishing the life out of him.

_Ahh! If I could just ... reach my pocket ...then! _The Shadow threw the brown haired fool a long pitch. Alex rose up and was without a weapon or a persona, his gun back at the feet of the Shadow. He raced towards his pistol with superhuman speed. "Garu." And the Shadow blew a mighty gust that blew Alex right off the ground tumbling even further away from it.

"Charging isn't going to work he'll just keep hitting you when you get close!"

"But I can't fight without a Persona."

"Yes, but there may be something that you can use against him"

He then had to scan the room and watch the Shadow prepare another attack against the fool. He braced the attack. "GARU!" A terrible hit and it stood up from it's seat and laughed in victory. Alex grips the ground in pain then looks up above the shadow._ The Stage lights! Yes! _He gets on his feet and smirks, the Shadow laughs as he barrages the Fool with blasts of wind. ALex rolls and dodges as he encircles the room, the shadow's attacks destroy everything in their path.

Alex stops only a moment to catch his breath of all the running. Mori's shadow faces him. "YOUR DEAD!"

"I don't think so!" He rolls away from the attack and it collapses the final beam holding up the Stage lights above. Metal and electricity crush the shadow making it vulnerable.

"Now's your chance hit it with all you got!"

Alex nods at his mentor Akihiko's voice and with his evoker reclaimed he calls out Raiden as they charge in unison towards the weak shadow. The combined attack returns the shadow to its human form. There was the Shadow beaten, And Mori was completely catatonic the whole fight, Alex clutched his chest panting, he couldn't believe he could run or jump or punch that way before.

The Shadow twitched.

"It's not over, it can't be stopped you have to get Mori to face that thing or it will just attack

again"

"Your kidding" Alex could hardly stand up after that.

"Stop it" Alex turned his head, Mori got up his face red and wet with tears, seeing his worst moment of his life and relived again wasn't something anybody could recover from.

"Everything you said ... I get it." Mori then helped up his other self. He removes the leather studded wristbands to reveal the scars he hid but could not remove from his put his hands on It's shoulder and looked at It's dark yellow eyes.

"All I wanted to do was forget that thing, but how could I really? I see these scars every day I look in the mirror, see it every time I look at my parent's or my brother's faces. Everyone treated me different after that. Everyone would ask me 'how you doing Mori, you hanging in there' that was the worst part, having to live with what I did, a botched suicide. It broke my mother's heart, all because of a few stupidly bad months. We had to move after that, and my brother had to leave because of college and only made things more awkward with my parents." Mori was about to let another tear. Alex could only watch his friend face himself, nothing to make him fell better even if it was just for that he's only known him for a few days now.

Then a brighter expression of a happier memory shined in his eyes. "Then I met her, just seeing her made me feel warmth, and that was without even talking to her, sometimes she would come over and say 'hi' or something, but it felt more to me you know. That was when I decided to ditch my past every time anyone would talk about it I would just play dumb, and I'm sorry. It's not right to bottle feelings like that, you really shouldn't have to take the burden anymore I think I can carry it now." And then the shadow began to disappear into a warm light that entered Mori, from then came a Persona of white, a robot shaped satyr without arms, and a triangle for a head. A ring rotated around the chest where the arms would be. And spoke in a synthetic multi-toned voice.

_Thou art I, I am thou_

_From the sea of thy soul I cometh_

_I am Pan, of the forest, this tune shall sooth the heart._

The battle against Mori's other self was won, but the fight to save Maiko wasn't over.

**Author's note: Still searching for a Beta reader. All this attention to this story has gotten me in a writing frenzy ^^ I'm trying to set a goal to get a chapter of average 4000 words a day. Probably won't be like this for long but its like ideas are speeding through my brain like electricity. The final confrontation with Magician next episode :D **


	5. Chapter 4: Heart of Madness

Chapter 4: Heart of Madness.

(_Incoming boss battle music Go!( www youtube com / watch ?v=iFIQXB91xUg&f eature = related) and take out them bloody spaces!)_

After the battle with the shadow Alex was exhausted and Mori might have needed some time to mentally recuperate what happened to him just then.

"I don't think I can keep going at this rate." He then drops down and sits on the floor.

"Wait!" he then puts his Evoker to his temple unsure of himself he says "Persona?" with doubt in his voice and pulls the trigger. His eyes flash for a split second and Pan then materializes again in front of him. The persona showers a healing glittery light upon Alex and he soon feels rejuvenated. "It's some kind of healing type, not as exciting as yours though."

Alex then jumps up and stretches a bit. "Well I think I'm ready for more then, we really can't let that guy keep Maiko for one more minute."

"Okay! I'm with you, and Pan too!" The two friends' hearts are fuelled with determination. In witnessing Mori's shadow Alex felt closer to understanding his new friend. Then a voice rings inside his mind.

_Thou art I , I am thou, _

_Thou hast established a new bond_

_It brings thee closer to the heart_

_I bestow thee Pixie of the Lovers arcana_

Mori looks over to his friend under some kind of trance.

"Yo Aniki? You still need a break?" Alex shakes his head and regains himself. It seems he has obtained a second persona from his battle. Mori speaks again as the ascend to the next and last floor.

" Aniki? My Japanese isn't perfect, I don't know the word."

Mori rubs his neck." You know, it's like your my brother dude, Sounds lame I know, but heck it's easier than saying that American name." He chuckles like his old self again.

Alex couldn't help but smile at the affection, it had been a long time since he had a true friend who he could call his brother.

The two step into the final room where an eagerly waiting Magician sits on a sofa with his captive guest watching TV. The room looked like a giant living room unlike the stages before.

"Maiko!" They screamed, her body made some movement and she didn't appear to be held up by strings like before.

"Welly, welly, well there looks like we've got two new brats who think they can use Persona. I've been trying to get her shadow to come out for hours now, I mean with a girl this sweet and normal she'd just have to have something fucked up in her head." He cackles like a wild hyena.

"You've been murdering people you psychopath!" Alex shouted .

"No, I never so often get to do that, most of those who I find able to obtain persona never make it past the first test. But there's a certain magic to seeing someone with their masks removed. Though I have to say your's was pretty pathetic. ~Ooooh I'm having a bad day I think I'll kill myself! Oh no that didn't work what a loser Boo-hoo~"

"Oh yea? Why are wearing that then?" Mori retorted.

"What this? I'm not wearing a mask this is an expression of my true self. Everyone wears a mask of lies, an image of what they think they are, and they tell that lie so well, and so often they believe it entirely themselves."

"Then why are you doing this, is it all really just some sick thrill?"

"Yes that be pretty much it, well on my side at least. But if it really matters, which I know it won't after killing you I'm with a group of 'people' with some like-minded ideas about humanity. They found me one day in the Ol' Houscow, busted me out, even gave me some cool powers. They talked about some cult stuff it was all ridiculous but It was interesting still, plus if that meant I could go back to this world again why not huh?"

"Enough! You can take off that stupid thing and show your face Tohru Adachi!" It was only a hunch but he took the name out in his suspicions and hoped to breakthrough. The masked man unmasked was indeed Adachi.

"Way to go kid you figured it out what do you want a cookie? I'm getting bored of all this anyway if this bitch's shadow won't come out then I'll just have to kill you all right now!" Then the structure of the room shakes and a powerful wind begins to dissolve the walls and ceiling revealing the same red and black striped pattern of the portal entrance a barrier of police tape walls the perimeter.

Adachi clutches his head "Persona! Lyssa!" and the persona appears as a white robed woman with a television for a head, the screen is cracked and bloody.

"Mazio!" Lyssa appears in front of the two and blasts them with shocks of electricity. Alex is not phased when then looks forward and sees that Raiden shielded much of the blow. But then looks over to Mori and Pan and sees him on the ground in pain, _electricity must not agree with his persona._ He concluded in thought.

"Wait!" He grabs his evoker and with a flash of his eyes the blank card in his mind's eye changes to Pixie. With a shout of it's name he calls out to it and she casts a spell to heal their wounds.

"Ughh, thanks." Mori stands up straight and turns his expression to a smile. "Aniki tag me!" *high-five* "Alright It's moshin' time! Garu!" Mori's attack has some effect on Adachi hitting him hard and even wiping the smile off his face.

"Gah! Your starting to piss me off!" Adachi seemed like he was about to use some finishing blow. Sparks fly off the bloody screen of his persona. Alex summons both persona's to shield his friend from harm, at the cost of his own strength.

Lyssa charges energy again, Alex couldn't pull off another double summon to save him.

"Persona!" All three men turn attention to Maiko calling out a half visual Persona, she breaks free and strikes the unsuspecting madman.

"You bitch! You can't even use that stupid thing!" With Adachi distracted and Alex weakened Mori takes his chance to charge at the lunatic.

"Hey Adachi! Show's over!" The bat breaks across his head but the force was strong enough to knock him unconscious, Lyssa disappears and the shape of the room regains form.

Adachi with his face on the ground knocked out cold the two friends finally run to the aid of Maiko shaking heavily, she begins to fall but Alex catches her. He followed up with a long drawn sigh. Finally over he thought. He pushes Maiko's limp body to Mori.

"You take her."

"What?" Mori's jaw hits the floor. His mind computes being offered to carry Maiko and have her wake up to see him as a hero.

"Leave the girl alone Mori I think she's been through enough" Mori tries to wipe the perverted look on his face. "I think I can bring in Adachi on my own, this place or maybe this power has given us some crazy strength."

Mori hoists Maiko on his back to lift her up "Welp, we've seen, we've fought, we've conquered, maybe now Sanada-sensei can actually give us those answers he promised."

"Yea." Alex grabs Adachi by the shoulder and pulls him up dragging him forward in pace with Mori. "Speaking of which Akihiko was pretty silent that whole fight just now."

Mori shrugs, "Had to go to the bathroom?" They laugh and smile with lighter hearts now. All their worries were gone, They thought it was over.

~Back in the real world.~

The first one to come out of the locker portal was Adachi, thrown on the floor he awakens groaning.

"Damn brats..." His sentence cut short as he sees Akihiko pointing a real gun to his head along with several other armed men who looked like SWAT.

Alex, Mori and Maiko return soon after Maiko's eyes flutter open upon returning to the real world Mori sets her down, she leans her weight on the wall to gain balance.

The armed men cuffed and dragged Adachi away without much resistance. Akihiko shuts the locker portal and locks it once more. The red light glowing from the inside fades away turning back into a normal locker once more. Alex's focus dwindles the feeling of strength and energy from the Shadow world taken away he began to sleep.

*April 15th*

The light of the room stings his eyes. Blinking slowly he finds himself in his room.

"Afternoon sleepyhead." Alex jumps up and covers himself with the blanket. His reaction was unnecessary however as he found out he was still in his clothes from last night. He tries to stand but his body aches like he just got hit by an eighteen-wheeler.

"Don't get up right away, your still in some rough shape." Maiko helps him back up to his bed.

"What time is it?" _And why were you watching me sleep?_

"6:00 Pm. And I was just checking up on you hoping you'd wake up. Akihiko told me how you and Mori-kun saved me from that freak." Alex remembered that night in the shadow world all too clearly, as much as his rational mind wanted to dismiss it as a dream it was all too clear, too detailed.

"Also... I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Why? You were a victim in this, Mori and I went in that place to save our friend. 'Sides I've slept for 18 hours before."

"42 hours, its been 42 hours." Alex gasps.

"But what I mean to say sorry for is that I haven't been completely honest before. I've known about Personas, Shadows, these weird cultists, and SEES before you arrived, and how The Director had you come here on that exchange program just to be here. It didn't seem right to have you come all the way to Japan to get involved with something you knew nothing about, at least when I joined I had the choice." Alex passes over a tissue box to Maiko.

"Hey if it's any consolation I'd still say yes, not even because of this scholarship thing they made up if we're the only people who can stop these occult freaks then how could I say no? Not another person is gonna die from these masked psychos." Maiko wipes her nose and eyes and makes a faint smile.

"Thanks, Hey do you wanna wake up Mori he's in his new room in the dorm, then come upstairs Akihiko's been holding out on your answers."

"Why can't you do it" Maiko only turned and glared. Alex just shrugged it off. _Guess I can walk now._

He makes for the hallway and walks 2 doors down to the open room. The sleeping scene kid looked so tranquil. Alex smacks the wall with his fist to get his attention.

"Who'da? Aniki!" He rubs his eyes and wipes the bangs off his face. "The hell man?"

"Your back at the dorm, Maiko's fine, come upstairs, it's been 42 hours. "

~Later~

Mori finally steps into the meeting room. Akihiko taps the arms of his leather chair impatiently.

"Well it's about time you got up." Alex smirked.

" I had to fix my hair, got all staticy from that fight in ...that locker dimension thing, can you tell us what that place is finally?"

Akihiko sets down his cup of coffee on the table. "The dimension is known as the realm of Tartarus, it's a section of a place we call the Shadow world. All we know is it has a connection to this world as that world contains the suppressed emotions of every person on Earth."

"Wait so when I killed those black sludge monsters I killed someone's suppressed feelings?"

"Actually those lesser shadows aren't connected to anyone in the real world. Shadow's like Mori's only appear like that when they try to force their original to accept them. What I think those creature shadows are the unaccepted dark sides of dead humans, no longer seeking entrance to our world. That's only a theory however."

"Now I've told you that SEES or the Special Extracurricular Execution Squad are Persona users who's goals are to slay shadows, and now put an end to this mysterious cult who we've determined to be responsible for the deaths of a number of unawakened Persona users."

"How does someone get Persona anyway? Mori got his from accepting his shadow, but mine just sort of appeared when I was in a bind."

"You see a Persona is acquired when a human's ego overcomes it's shadow. Basically its the same feelings as a shadow but tamed. Obtaining it usually requires someone to face their shadow however there are special cases. The first squad of SEES back in it's original formation over ten years ago each had their powers evoked from a strange phenomenon that broke the boundary between the realm of Tartarus and ours. Now it seems that these cultists want to finish the work of their predecessors from over a decade ago."

"You mean destroying the world?" Akihiko nods. "So the exchange program, the scholarship, all of this was a guise just to have me come to Japan to save the world? What's with the special treatment"

Akihiko moved closer to Alex and whispered something in his ear. "Go to Paulownia Mall, make way to the Karaoke bar. Then you'll know."

Returning to his red armchair. "Now Mori, I also extend the offer I gave to Maiko and Alex, join SEES, and you'll have one of the best scholarship opportunities money can buy."

Mori took a moment in silence, he looks at his friend Alex who looked like he was in, then Maiko equally determined. Then he nodded to his sensei. "Just one condition, I'm gonna need my room soundproofed" He flashes his bright smile and along with the devil horns hand gesture.

"Done, now with that taken care of there is one last matter to be tended to. Follow me to the Basement."

~The Basement.~

The basement level looked like a high tech facility like they show in the movies. The floors and walls were glowing with florescent light and everything looked sterile. Some rooms were labelled storage, then there was a large server room, after that a built in state-of-the-art medical bay. Akihiko led the group past some armed guards as seen the night before to a one way mirror screen.

"It's good how you managed to bring him by yourselves, If you feel uncomfortable I won't force you to stay for the interrogation." Inside the padded cell Adachi kept in a straight jacket and a muzzle he sat in the corner laughing to himself and muttering inaudible words.

"That guy has really lost his marbles." Alex quipped.

"Actually this behaviour of his is rather strange. During his incarceration Adachi had hardly caused any trouble, even kept 30 yards away from a television as the court demanded. But then one day not long before he escaped, he just snapped. Killed a guard, tore his neck open. He was immediately sent to solitary confinement. And like just like that he was gone. Kirijo group silenced his escape, not to alert the country that a murderer had just been set loose, sadly the bodies started piling up."

Alex reminds himself of the news report from three nights hence, how there was no evidence, or cause of death found, and how Adachi claims to have never actually killed any of his victims. "What happens when someone dies in Tartarus?"

"The body is sent back to the real world, those deaths you hear about with the coins on the eyes. It seems to follow some sort of ritual, the coins on the eyes represents paying the ferryman in Greek mythos. Why? How? We only can speculate. Now I'm going in, If you don't want to stay just wait for me in the lounge." He enters the padded room, Alex stands in front of the mirrored glass reading the lips of the aggravated Akihiko, and the delusional Adachi.

"Don't think I can be here right now." Maiko steps away. "Are you two staying?"

"Nah looking at him just makes by head ache, Aniki what about you." Alex follows the two silently in thought. _Just the three of us for now against the world, it's all so much but it feels like I can do anything when they're with me._ A voice rings in his mind.

_Thou art I, I am thou,_

_Thou hast established a new bond_

_It brings thee closer to the heart._

_I bestow thee Fujin of the Fool arcana._

~Inside the Interrogation Room~

"Why are you trying to free Nyx!"

"Hey now Aki-baby, I wasn't part of the whole secret society to destroy the world, they just let me do what I want so I help them out."

"Then who are you working for?"

"You know Nyx had mothered many children, Dreams, Fate, Misery, Deceit, Death, Madness." He laughs uncontrollably. Akihiko grabs hold of him and puts a gun to his head, shows him the bullets to prove he's serious.

"You have three seconds."

"Hey, hey ,hey! You need me right here in your hands."

"Two"

"Listen you retard! You have three angsty brats versus some seriously loco and mad powerful persona users, They're gonna kill me if I get out of here! I'm ready to make a deal." He sung like a canary.

"What could you give use that would even be considered a deal."

"Like how I can sense when there's a Persona user, If give me what I want I may be able to tell you who's being targeted next."

Akihiko couldn't trust Adachi to hold up to his deal, or not try to escape but it was true he would need Adachi's help if SEES was ever going to get a lead on the Nyx Cult. "I can't let you go free Adachi."

"That's not what I want, like I said if I leave here they're gonna kill me, so if I'm gonna be a prisoner like this its gonna be on my own terms. Get me a nice big flat screen, 4 colour, with 3D. The whole shebang." Akihiko grits his teeth, having to follow the whims of a madman like this was degrading, not to mention morally questionable.

~Paulownia mall~

Alex left the dorm alone to Paulownia mall as Akihiko requested. He didn't expect to find anything but walked toward the end of the mall to the Karaoke bar. He was about to walk the stairs up to the bar but then he caught from the corner of his eye a familiar blue light.

Past the stairs there was a dead end, but the blue light emitted again as the blank wall transformed into train tracks and the blue caboose of the Velvet room pulled up in front of him. Alex rubs his eyes in disbelief and turns his head to see if anyone else was seeing this.

He carefully steps forward and steps inside the Velvet Room, to meet for the third time Igor and Beatrice.

"Welcome again. I sense the power you have awakened to, and it seems that it was the Persona Raiden who answered your call."

Beatrice opens up the book on her lap. Alex sees on the first page a moving picture of himself and Mori working together to rescue Maiko, on the other side the tarot card The Lovers. Then after that it was all three of them at the dorm with Akihiko, the Tarot next to it was The Fool.

"You've already tapped into the Wild cards source of power. The bonds you make with people become your social links, and as these bonds strengthen so will your Personae."

"The Wild card is like the number zero, it is empty, yet it is also the beginning of all possibility. Develop your social links and return here when you need to unlock the new Personas from theses bonds."

The Caboose stops just as Alex had the feeling of wanting to leave, and returned to the waking world._ Social links with others... what a waste._ To understand Alex's doubt in lasting friendship is to tell the story of him and his once best friend Terry Reid.

Flashback 2013 :Canada

It was an indoor recess on a rainy day. An eight year old Alex sits by himself in the corner away from the games of Lego and tag and draws with his crayons on the first of many sketchbooks.

Never venturing far from his zone of comfort he sat alone drawing like this every recess of school since his mother died, and every day after school he would be the last child picked up by his widower father. Most kids either picked on him and how his Mom was a "Crazy" person, and exiled him thinking he was crazy too. His Mother was diagnosed as a paranoid-schizophrenic, she tried to kill herself but was left comatose, she died by the time Alex was 5 years old.

But on that rainy day a new kid moved to town, and started his first day in the third grade, his name was Terry Reid. Reid was on his way to becoming a cool kid. He spent the whole day talking to everyone in class and making friends.

"What'cha doing?" Alex didn't hear him, no one talked to him before he hadn't expected it now.

"Hey come on I'm just saying hi." Alex lifts his head up to the crimson haired boy.

"Oh, Hi."

"What are you drawing?" He sits next to the quiet boy.

"Stuff."

"Cool."

"Do you think I'm crazy?"

"What, why?"

"Because everyone says I'm crazy because my Mom was."

"That's stupid, they don't even know you, I'm gonna tell everyone to quit that right now."

"Why?"

"Because we're friends, I and I can't let someone bully my friend."

'Friends' he thought. He liked that.

6 years later.

"You know you don't have to come over every anime night. "

"Nah, man this is cool I think I'm getting the gist of what their saying."

"Anata wa, haitte kuru mae ni nokku ga dekiru" _(you can knock before coming in)_. Alex would always break out into using his step-mothers Japanese whenever he wanted to say something aloud to his friends they didn't need to hear. Reid also began studying his Japanese with Alex for Anime night on the two had every Thursday, it was a running event they've had every week since Anime and Manga began breaking out again in the west.

"Watashi wa sotchoku ni yorokobi o kanjiru koto ga dekiru " _(I frankly can feel the joy)._ His fluency in Japanese wasn't as strong as his friend's.

The next Thursday however Reid did not show up for Anime night, while he didn't mind the privacy it was pretty much tradition that they'd do this together.

On the Friday at school he wanted to speak with him. Reid was huddled in with one of the many clichés of friends he was a part of in. "Reid, can we have a sec?" Reid steps out of the huddle to hear Alex.

"Anime night On Thursday? I mean if you had something important going on I get it just..."

"Hey A.J can we not talk about this right now? I'm sort of in the middle of something." Then he just turned right around back to his other friends.

From that point on they just stopped hanging out, a friendship that lasted for years just gone. No fight, or words said it was just as if they both drifted away from each other. They grew up. Every friend he made since the day they met in the third grade it was because of Reid, and each one of those friendships disappeared with him. From then on he kept away from people, he believed he wasn't meant to have friends if they would go away after giving so much.

_The power of bonds? A joke, they'll just fade away. Even I won't be here for more than a year._

**Author's note: **

**Q: why did Adachi's Persona change?**

**A: Because he's like a Mid-boss now, Mangetsu-Izanagi would have trashed those guys. Plus he had to get his powers back from the Shadow Cult.**

**Fun fact:**

**The orginal concept I had for the Magician in this fanfic's development was Cicero from Skyrim, Nyx= Night Mother, Erebus= Sithus, (see what I did there hurr hurr.)**


	6. Chapter 5: Ghosts

Chapter 5: Ghosts

*April 16th*

Alex decided to go out to town and act like a tourist in the city for his Sunday off. He took a train to Iwatodai Station and found the bookstore "Bookworms", underneath the sign was a cartoon worm saying "Now open Sundays". He walks inside with a sense of familiarity. _Deja vu ? _He shakes his head to physically erase the thoughts.

Hours gone by as he was reading a book he thought he might take home with him, then he thought he saw an elderly couple with a student, but the moment passed. He felt that coma he just had the night before had maybe killed some brain cells or something. He tucked away the book somewhere he would hope to find again next time should he come here.

Alex wandered the city and found himself in Naganaki Shrine. He didn't know the correct way to pray to the shrine so he just made an offering of pocket change, wished for "Good Luck" then moved along. Again he looked to see things that were not there, a sickly man and that student again. Alex slapped himself to reality. _Maybe I need to go to the dorm, Sigh but I'm not tired._ He remembered about the Bartender Junpei who said he might have a job for him at Club Escapade, He could make it there just before it opens.

The sound of a guitar filled Alex's ears. Playing in the street was an old homeless white man. His shoes had big open holes in the front where you could see his socks that were made of trash bags. His clothes were filthy, and had a pungent odour that made you want to keep a good five paces away. His beard was woolly and stained around his mouth, with a mix of booze, and tobacco ash. He left some money for the man but he just threw it back at him angrily. "_ I don't need money, damn kid!"_ Alex turned and ran, not picking up the 500 something yen he handed out to the American.

~Paulownia Mall Before Night~

Alex approached the closed doors of Club Escapade, it was quiet inside so he was right on time. He grabs the door handle but it's locked. Sounds of running footsteps draw closer, it was Junpei.

"Oh hey it's you! You ready to start working tonight?" _Tonight? _"It's supposed to be busy and I really need someone to help me out I'm all alone here! Here just take this and get drink orders."

~Later~

The booming rhythm of the beat made Alex need to compete against the sound, having to yell just to talk to a person next to him, and every drink order had the feeling of doubt. _Oolong Tea! No Ginger ale! Wait no a Shirley Temple! Gah!_

Junpei looked just as stressed, constantly servicing 5 people at once, let he still managed to keep a cool head and things kept accident free the whole night. "Got a list from the people in the back wall." Junpei only replied with a quick 'yah.' Alex then noticed in booth above the bar some people he missed, but as soon as he climbed up there _Gone again, It's like ghosts or something I... I need some air._

Alex went up to the bar and yelled to Junpei against the house beat that needed to take a break. Running to the washroom he let the water run and soaked his face. Someone was knocking on the bathroom door. "Hey hurry up in there only two more hours to go." Alex takes a few more minutes to stare at his reflection. _Just keep it together._

~After work~

Alex managed to pull through the last two hours, Junpei slides a can of pop over to the exhausted temp. Alex picks looks at the can. "Melon Soda?"

"Last one, on the house of course." Junpei pulls out a frosty beer from the cooler.

"Didn't I hear there's not supposed to be alcohol in the club Iori-san?"

"Ah, they said I couldn't serve it, doesn't mean I can't save one for myself, haha!" The two cling their canned beverages together and Alex takes a sip of his Melon drink. "Tastes good." Thinking aloud.

"Well alright! Cuz that's your payment for tonight."

"Your kidding right?" Alex nearly choked on his drink, Junpei laughs out loud and slaps the boy on the back.

"Man you spook too easy" He hands over 10 000 yen in a wad of bills. "That was worth seeing the look on your face haha! So how about it though, think you can work on the weekends?"

"I'm a fast learner."

"Great thing to hear, already seen you at it and it makes me wish I found you years ago. Then I will see you on Friday amigo." A voice rings in Alex's head.

_Thou art I, I am thou_

_Thou hast established a new bond_

_It brings thee closer to the heart_

_I bestoweth thee Archimedes of the Magician Arcana_

Alex took in consideration the power he would gain from expanding this Social Link with Junpei.

"I gotta head back, curfew's midnight back at my place."

"Ah, back at the dorm?"

"Uh yes... How did you know." The phone rang.

"It's the Boss, Sorry. See ya later." _Phew, close one Junpei._

Alex shrugged it off and walked along the bridge to the subway station. He should probably consider a better form of transportation instead of walking around and trains. Walking along he saw someone ahead standing on the side of the bridge about to jump!

He ran quickly to stop the jumper, it was the pink haired girl he saved from getting run over.

"Wait don't!" The girl turns to see the brown haired young man. As he lets closer to her she moves closer to the edge. "Woah, now. Why don't you stop for a second and think about what your doing here."

"If you come any closer then I'll jump!"

"Okay, Okay, just please stay where you are, I won't come any closer. We can just talk."

The pink haired girl looks at his face, she recognizes him also. It might have been what kept her on the bridge so far.

"What's your name."

"That's a strange question to ask."

"Should I ask you why you want to kill yourself then?"

"No you shouldn't, why don't you just turn around and find another way to get home."

"Well maybe if you told me why we can talk you out of this. I have a friend, who was feeling the same things you might be thinking about right now."

"Neither you or anyone knows what happened."

"What happened then? You have to tell me if want to know the truth." She bites her lip and nods, tears roll down her cheeks.

"They still won't say that it was a murder, now the media's trying to tell us that he wanted to kill himself" The story she was telling seemed awfully familiar.

"Killing yourself isn't going to help"

"SHUT UP!" Her left shoe slips off her foot and falls into the water down below. Alex begins to remove his shoes and his jacket. "What are you doing?"

"If your gonna jump down there then I'll just have to jump down and rescue you." He swings over the arm of the bridge and stands on the ledge next to the girl.

"You'll kill yourself!"

"I know, what about your family? Think how it might affect them when they hear about what you did? Your friends at school? Even a total stranger who saved your life before?" She begins to hug the arm of the bridge more feeling regret about what she was doing, this gave Alex the opportunity to move closer to her on the ledge.

"Take my arm." He draws his arm closer to her.

"I'm Scared!"

"Just trust me it'll be okay." She then slowly grabs Alex's arm and is pulled closer, carefully they work together to get back safely on the walkway. Alex sighs in relief, his heart pounding through his chest. He looks to see if the girl was alright and then receives a slap across the cheek.

"The hell?"

"That was for standing on the ledge." Alex admitted to himself that it was a stupid idea that could have gotten himself killed with just a breeze, but frankly he was more concerned of her.

"Are you gonna be okay, I mean your not gonna do that again are you?"

"N-no."

"I still haven't heard your name."_ Maybe your number too, no don't push it boy. _"I'm Alex Wade, from Gekkougan High"

"Fukushima Sakura. Sekkojo Academy"

"Did you say Fukushima?" He heard of that name before.

"My brother was murdered, but the police won't confirm that it was a homicide, or even how he died. I will find the man who's responsible for this, I swear it." Tears drip from her face, Alex wished he could offer her a tissue or a handkerchief.

"Would you like me to walk you home."

"My house is a bit far, you really don't have to, and I think I need to be alone for a while."

Alex had felt the feeling as the bond between him and the girl was being made manifest, but it faded away as she left. Neither of them would forget each other.

~Dormitory~

Alex made it back to the dorm before curfew. He saw on the Doorstep Mori trying to pull up his luggage. Alex lends his assistance.

"What is this made out of lead?" He says while trying to drag up a guitar case up the step.

"I gotta protect my favourite girl."

"The guitar... is a she?"

"You know how they say 'It's not the musician who picks the instrument'? Seeing Kotomi was like love at first sight." _Okay... _Mori opens the heavy case with a special key he pulled from his necklace to reveal his favourite guitar. It was the neon like blue colour he'd seen from the velvet room, flower pedals were outlined on the side.

"Hey Aniki why is your face all red?" Alex feels the cheek that girl Sakura slapped. He dazed out a moment thinking about her.

"It's nothing... You got everything inside?"

"Well the heavy stuff, still needs to go up the stairs though. Get some Z's dude, its cool."

Alex shrugged and went to his room to turn in. After putting on some pyjamas he laid on top of his bed sheets awake. He was tired but could not sleep, his thoughts always going back to that girl. _Why? Why kill yourself?_ He closed his eyes.

It was darkness. The shadowy oblivion of the void. He could not feel his body, he was nothing.

"_Why did you come back?" _A voice broke out from the void.

Alex tried to speak to the voice but could not, it was as though he had left his body, and was now a drift in the empty black nihil.

"_It's too late, It will all become this soon. I tried, tried to stop the darkness... but there were too many, too many voices. I don't want to bring you into this."_

_How do you know me? What are you saying?_ A light came from the darkness around Alex. He could feel his body again, and then the energy of the disembodied voice drew closer and slowly formed. It was the blue haired boy, Arisato Minato. He had seen visions of him in the day like ghosts. He looked weak, and shivering.

"_I cannot hold like this for long. You cannot turn back now, Only a wild card can...break the seal. These cultists are trying to bring this void to our world. I still... have power from... my bonds... take it."_ The blue haired ghost spares the last of his power in this dream form to grant his power.

_Thou art I, I am thou_

_Thou hast established a new bond_

_It brings thee closer to the heart_

_I bestoweth thee Samedi of the Death Arcana._

The dream around them begins to collapse. Dark turns to light, and the void becomes the dawn of a new day.

**Author's note: I tried to make a Chapter without Mori in it, really. Guess who's my biased favourite character? :P**

**I just quickly made up Sakura's school name, I could have used the awful Japanese translator again to come up with some kind of message or something in its name, but whatever.**

**Also I'm noticing how I haven't been consistent with the names sometimes. I'll say them in the family name first order, but I've made the mistake where I do it Surname first instead like Junpei Iori, or Yusei Fukushima. **


	7. Chapter 6: The Lover's Plight

Chapter 6: The Lover's Plight.

*?*

"It seems that Adachi has turned on us Kami-sama, shall the Hermit and I end the wretch?" A crown-masked man kneeled before an apathetic shadow on his throne.

"No I had expected even less from it." The 'it' he refers to would be Adachi. "However this wild card..."

"We will capture him at once my lordship."

The Shadow's voice erupts with rage. "Do you think that crown you wear makes you our leader Emperor? No such thing will be done."

"N-no Kami! Forgive my insolence! B-but may I ask why we do not simply take the wild card if he has revealed himself and awakened."

"Imbecile, he would not survive the binding. That Arisato fool believed he could stop mankind's true intentions, but soon my brother will return and all will be made right. Emperor!"

"Yes your lordship!" He salutes, his body is shaking with fear.

"I sense a presence, one connected to the Adachi's doings. Find it, if it does not join our ranks kill it and see it forgotten, if you fail such will also be your fate."

* * *

><p>*April 17th, *<p>

Gekkoukan High .Lunchtime.

Maiko and Alex are sitting on the rooftop of the school enjoying lunch, Alex had asked Maiko a question.

"Sekkojo Academy... I heard it was that rich girls school on the other side of the city, why?"

"Oh never mind." Alex shrugged. Then enters Mori bumbling his way toward the three.

"M-maiko-san I... " He bows presenting her a bento box. "I made a lunch for you!" Maiko stares at him oddly.

"Well... thanks but I already bought lunch." Maiko said confused, Mori spirals out of control. _(Imaginary glass heart breaks) My hopes and dreams RUINED! AAAAAAAAAAAH!_

Alex takes his bento and digs in. "Thanks." It seemed that Mori has fainted.

"So Al-kun what clubs are you going to take this year?" Alex turns his head with a shrimp tail in his mouth. "Well you should think about it, why not the Art club?" Alex pauses from devouring Mori's box lunch.

"Did you snoop around my room when I was asleep?" Maiko puts on a innocent face.

"I won't say I didn't do it." Trying to confuse him with the double negative. Alex's expression turns sour.

Mori has seemed to recovered from his nervous breakdown. Alex slides the empty bento in front of him. "Hey Mori, you have band practice after school right?"

"So you decided you want to join then?"

"I'll buy you Hagakure and make things even, but no ordering off the menu."

"Deal" Mori raises up his thumb. Classes after lunch went on as usual. Alex fell asleep through English class, having no need to study his first language. The end of school bell rang harsh punishment to his ears.

"Don't be out for long, Sanada-sensei wants us to go out and pick up some 'equipment'. " What she really meant for the boys was weapons for shadow slaying. Mori and Alex headed to the Music room. Inside the room were the three other members of Mori's band, also known as...

"Apathy Syndrome?"

"We drew straws to figure it out." Quipped the girl whom Alex met before named Uesugi Mikoto. The other two members were 3rd years, a short brown haired one with glasses named Takeda Shinji, the other a dyed blonde with black bangs named Date Takeo.

"So Uesugi over there is our drummer, Date and I are lead guitar, with me on vocals, and Takeda is kinda like our manager ha ha."

"What he means is that I'm the one who got us the music room as our band room. Considering how I am the only acting member of the music club."

"I thought it was cuz your paps was like a music producer or somethin' " Date remarked. "Alright I'm outta here."

"But Date! We finally got our bass player back. You can't go yet!"

"I'm heading home too." Said Takeda

"C-yah!" And Uesugi made three.

"Ah come on you guys. Guys? ... Damnit."

"In fairness I still do have to learn all your songs and chords I guess."

"Yea... I know, still kind of a bummer." The two then decide skip practice for another day and go to Hagakure. Alex just ordered a bowl of white rice, while his friend went out of his way to stab his buddy's pocket money and order with an assortment of tempura dishes, crab, squid, and fried yams. Mori crunches his deep fried food with a purpose. _Is he even tasting his food?_ Alex pondered.

"You wanna slow down? You'll get an ulcer eating like that."

"Hey I missed lunch, didn't have time to cook mine after making Maiko's."

"About that, forgive me for pointing out the extremely obvious but you really have a crush on her." Mori washes down his food with some soda and sighs to his friend.

"I blew it didn't I?" Mori hangs his head in shame.

"Your going to have to learn how to talk to her eventually, I mean you'll be living at the dorm now." Alex's words were like salt on Mori's wounds.

"It's just... Every time I speak to her I just want to shout out how I feel about her. Then I think about the words to describe it and I just freeze up." Mori laments his problems confessing his true feelings of Maiko, a girl who he is convinced is his soul mate. Alex feels the trust between him and Mori grow stronger and the voice of his heart says to him.

_Thou art I, I am thou_

_Through trust this bond is strengthened_

_It brings thee closer to the heart_

_I bestoweth thee Pixie with Dekaja!_

Alex decides to help Mori with his plight, to give him the confidence to ask out Maiko.

* * *

><p>~At the Dorm~<p>

With all the members of the new S.E.E.S at the dorm Akihiko introduces them to a new team mate.

"Awww what a cute doggie. Hey there boy what's your name?" The three give a puzzling look to Mori's effeminate reaction to the white shiba-inu who began growling at him. However the dog walked it's way to Alex, sniffed around him and then sat in front of him happily as though it had recognized him.

"Uh good boy?" The dog barked cheerfully.

"That's Koromaru. He's a well trained watch dog, and the only remaining Persona user of the last team." Alex had taken a look at Koromaru's unique little collar. "We're going to need him here for security against any of those enemy Persona users should they try and take the fight to us here...as well as for keeping watch on Adachi-san."

"But he's an escaped criminal! What is he doing here, in the same building as us?" Maiko still brimming with hatred towards her kidnapper.

"The basement facility has a level 5 security system deemed absolutely impenetrable from the inside and out. But seeing as how Adachi was able to escape before from a maximum security prison while in solitary as though he had quite literally disappeared in thin air, that doesn't make much a difference. However if we have any chance at finding and stopping the next one of these cultists we have little choice."

"It would have been worth telling us before making that decision Sir." Alex said boldly to his superior.

"Regardless of that we're heading to Korea town to grab some new equipment for the next time we step inside Tartarus to draw out Maiko's shadow, or anyone else's shadow's for that matter."

After a short drive to the district known as Korea town, the team had parked in front of an old antiques shop. Inside Akihiko rang the front bell a few times, tapping on the glass case impatiently. The three students had a look at all the rare oddities. Paintings, blades, carvings, and a some things that looked like they came right out of Tartarus. A faint voice saying "Coming!" from upstairs then arrived to greet the guests. To Alex's surprise it was a woman younger than expected for an antiques shop owner, Akihiko's age to be exact.

"I'm sorry Akihiko-san I knew you were coming I was just feeding my niece Yuu-chan, Oh I see you brought everyone here."

"Yes, I wanted to see if they wanted to pick out anything special. Everyone this is Yamagishi Fuuka, another member of S.E.E.S. She will be running your supply operation for weapons and equipment. Typical weapons aren't very effective in the Shadow world, so we have something that can modify weapons for shadow slaying."

"I've already picked out my weapon for when I'm ready guys, so look around." Maiko picks up a bow with a quiver of modded arrows.

"I got what I need right here." Mori sets down the guitar case he had behind his back since band practise was cancelled. "After you said how heavy this thing was I was thinking how good of a swing this could be in a fight, plus that world gives you super strength." Alex only shrugged at the bizarre choice of weapon Mori made.

"Guess I'll find a sword, something sharper this time." He browses at the various weapons racked on the wall then looked at one pair in particular. He grabs the handle, trying to feel the weight.

"That's a Ming Dynasty Jian blade, a double edged Chinese straight sword. Don't worry about the price tag Kirijo group has all the finances covered." Alex not paying much attention to Fuuka's history lesson Alex did pay heed to the price tag._ That's a lot of zeros..._ He tried a few practice swings minding his environment before sheathing.

"Oba-san? Can we watch a movie." A nine year old girl came down stairs to her Aunt.

"I'll come up as soon as I finish with these customers Yuu-chan." The little girl then looks to see the others and then hides behind the wall from where she entered. "Oh don't mind her she's just shy."

"Well thank you I'll have someone pick these up and bring them to the storage locker in Gekkoukan."

"And the school doesn't check the school for weapons?" Alex pondered to his sensei.

"Just not that locker, and I have the only key. Time to it's nearly curfew, In a couple of weeks when Maiko and you two have recuperated we'll return to draw out Maiko's shadow. I know how hard it is, can you do it?"

She nodded sheepishly. Alex gives Mori a nudge to the shoulder, a signal to console her. "Oh- umm. Well Maiko, I've had to go through it too, Uh... It sucked but... I think you'll be okay. We've got your back, I mean we'll take care of you. No! I mean we'll uh..." Alex covers his face with his palm.

"Thanks, I really believe I can do it with you guys with me on this." Alex felt inside the turmoil Maiko was feeling preparing to face her true self. He swore he would help her get through this. A voice rings in his mind.

_Thou art I, I am thou_

_Thou hast established a new bond_

_It brings thee closer to the heart_

_I bestoweth thee Berith of the Hanged Man arcana_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: Sorry that the this and the last chapter ended up being pretty short. Things will start picking up again soon I promise. Now you know what happened to Fuuka and Koromaru after P3, its a much lighter tone to the futures of the other members I gave for sure <strong>

**So the Modifier was just an idea I came up with to explain just how usefully say a paper fan as an example would be as a weapon against a 12 foot tall shadow monster. **

**:3 Thank you all and keep coming with the reviews and feedback. 3 **


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